Love

Love God With All You Are

37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. Matt. 22:37-38

Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment. He answered by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5. So we must ask ourselves the question, “are we fulfilling this commandment?” A lot of people will say that their relationship with God is the most important thing in their life. So how can we know this to be true? Well, we must understand what Jesus meant when He said Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.

If we apply the First Mention Principle we can gather the true meaning of this commandment. The First Mention Principle is simply going to when the text was first said in the Bible and understand its meaning in that context. So as we go to Deuteronomy God gives this commandment to Moses to tell the people of Israel. The context by which God gives this commandment is in relation to the 10 commandments. God had just given Moses the 10 commandments and instructed Moses to share them with the people of Israel so that they would fear God and obey His commandments in order to receive the blessings of God.

God desires to bless His children. In order to receive the blessing we must fear God and obey Him. To fear God means to understand that He is perfectly Holy! He does not have the ability to sin. Because He is Holy, He must judge sin. This means that because we are all sinners we must be judged by Him. Every thought, word and action in our life will be judged by Him. Everyone sins ,so this fact should elicit fear in everyone.

Practically speaking many people trivialize sin. They don’t think it is a big deal. They don’t believe that they will have to give an account for their lives. This is the opposite of fearing God. This is saying to God that you have no authority in my life and I will do what I want. God gives us the freedom to make this choice, however he does not give us the choice of selecting the outcome of our choice. God will judge sin!

Conversely, those who have a healthy fear of God desire to please Him. Consequently they obey His commands and receive His blessings. People that fear and obey God demonstrate their love for God. So what does this look like practically?

Love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind.

Simply put this means that you put God first in every aspect of your life. Because God addresses every facet of life in His Word, we are to apply it to our lives by being obedient to His Commandments. Let me give you some examples:

Marriage: 33 Nevertheless, as for you individually, each husband is to love his own wife the same as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. Eph. 5:33

Parenting: 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Eph 6:4

Working: 22 Slaves, obey those who are your human masters in everything, not with eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people, 24 knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. Col.3:22-24

Serving - 14 “Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and do away with the gods which your fathers served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15

Worship - 6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and [a]its glory, for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I want. 7 Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” 8 Jesus replied to him, “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” Luke 4:6-8

These are just a few areas of life that we can demonstrate our love for God by fearing Him and obeying Him. There are many more that you will discover as you read and apply God’s word to your life!

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matt. 22:39

Jesus explains that we are to love our neighbors the same way we love ourselves. We take care of ourselves so we should take care of our neighbors.

Leviticus 19:9-18 give us some principles that demonstrate love for one another.

9 ‘Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

11 ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. 12 And you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

13 ‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired worker are not to remain with you all night until morning. 14 You shall not curse a person who is deaf, nor put a stumbling block before a person who is blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.

15 ‘You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not show partiality to the poor nor give preference to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 16 You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people; and you are not to [a]jeopardize the [b]life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.

17 ‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may certainly rebuke your neighbor, but you are not to incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord. Lev. 19:8-18

I see 10 principles that demonstrate loving our neighbor in this passage.

We are to be generous to those in need. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger.

We should be compassionate to those in need by providing for them. If we have the resources to do so, we should help those who have need

2. We should not steal. You shall not steal, nor deal falsely. We should not take things that don’t belong to us. This means materially or time. When we get paid for 40 hours of work, we should give our very best for 40 hours.

3. We should not lie to each other. nor lie to one another. When we commit to something we should fulfill our commitment instead of coming up with an excuse as to why we can’t fulfill the commitment.

4. We should pay people for their worth. You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired worker are not to remain with you all night until morning. If you own a business you know what this is like. People try to get things done for nothing. We should understand the value of the service and pay accordingly.

5. We should not look down on people with physical limitations. 14 You shall not curse a person who is deaf, nor put a stumbling block before a person who is blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the Lord. We are to provide every opportunity for those with limitations to function as those without limitations.

6. We should do right by people. You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not show partiality to the poor nor give preference to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. All people should have the right to the same quality of representation. The rich should not get a lighter crime just because they can afford a higher powered attorney. We should value a person on their socioeconomic condition.

7. Don’t get on social media and talk bad about people. 16 You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people; We should only speak words of kindness and love about people or remain silent.

8. Don’t endanger others. 16 You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people; and you are not to [a]jeopardize the [b]life of your neighbor. I am the Lord. If you want to live recklessly, don’t pull others into your recklessness.

9. Don’t hate anyone. 17 ‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may certainly rebuke your neighbor, but you are not to incur sin because of him. Their is no reason for hating any person. When we are sinned against, we are to correct rather than hate.

10. Don’t get even. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, We should learn to forgive rather than let anger and bitterness control us.

These are 10 ways the Lord gives to love our neighbor. So who is our neighbor?

Everyone is your neighbor.

30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, and they stripped him and [d]beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 And by coincidence a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 On the next day he took out two [e]denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’ 36 Which of these three do you think [f]proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37 And he said, “The one who showed compassion to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do [g]the same.” Luke 10:30-37

Our neighbor is anyone that we can love and care for.

God Loves Us Immeasurably!

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

God loves us just the way we are. We do not have to be a good person for God to love us. God loves us because of His nature. His love is not conditional on our behavior. For God so loved THE WORLD!

God loves us just the way we are but loves us too much to keep us where we are. We are all sinners destined and deserving of a sinners punishment. That punishment is eternal torture in the lake of fire. God does not desire for people to go to this place of punishment so He provided a way for us to have eternal life instead of eternal torture.

He sent His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only one who has ever lived without sin. This qualifies Him to be a sacrifice for our sins. He loved us so much that He crawled on a Roman cross and took our punishment on Himself. He died and took our place. Praise God! He did not stay dead. On the third day after His crucifixion, He rose from the dead. In doing this He defeated Sin and death and gives eternal life!

Our responsibility is to believe. When we believe we are promised eternal life. So what does it mean to believe? ILLUSTRATION: Two men are on a plane, an announcement comes over the loud speakers and says "This plane is going to crash, please put on the parachute that is under your seat." both men believe that a parachute will save them, but only one of the two men are willing to put it on. it's obvious which one would be saved, it's the one who put the parachute on. (Ray Comfort uses this illustration often)

APPLICATION: Many people "believe" in the Lord Jesus Christ, they "believe" he is the Son of God, they "believe" he died on the cross and rose from the dead, they "believe" that he will save them, but just giving a mental assent to this does not save anyone, it's when we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and put our entire confidence in him. like the man who put the parachute on, he didn't just "believe" (give mental assent) that it would save him he actually put it on and that parachute became his ONLY savior. There are millions of people who "believe" Christ is the Savior and the only payment for sin but they have never repented of their sin and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, How sad! Have you ever received Christ as your ONLY Saviour from sin? You can, by calling upon him in faith, repenting of your sins and believing his promise of everlasting life placing all your weight upon Him.

It is not enough just to understand and agree with the facts of the events. To believe means to repent of your sins and make Jesus Lord of your life!